Jumilla cocaine plant raided,, Human trafficking network shut down, Mazarron man crushed and Irish diver rescued

Police and emergency services kept busy today

 

2010-07-28, Wednesday.

 

Cocaine laboratories dismantled in Jumilla

Police swooped this morning on a total of 7 addresses in the Jumilla area, arresting 5 people, 2 Spanish, 2 Columbians and 1 Bolivian.

The 5 have been running laboratories in which they converted pure cocaine into a vastly more profitable commodity by combining it with other chemicals in what the police called “cocaine kitchens” to create larger quantities of material which yielded  increased profits when sold on the open marketplace.

The swoop took place this morning following a period of discreet surveillance, undertaken by members of the ECO, the Equipo Contra el Crimen Organizado, the team for organized crime, based in Alicante, who had become aware that the team were operating throughout the region, and, following information proceding from another investigation, were able to identify the 2 columbians as being part of the processing operation.

A sizeable quantity of drugs, chemicals, cash and firearms were confiscated when the arrests took place this morning.

 

Mazarron, Greenhouse worker killed by Plastic bobbin in agricultural zone.

Details are sketchy about how the accident occurred, but a worker engaged in the construction of an agricultural greenhouse was killed this afternoon by a large coil of plastic, in an incident which occurred at 12.30 midday.

Emergency workers report that the man was completely crushed in the accident and they were unable to resuscitate him upon arrival. The incident has been reported to the department of worker safety for evaluation.

 

Murcia, Major human trafficking ring smashed

Another operation, entitled “ Operacion Patera 7” came to its’ conclusion this week, as police in both Spain and Morocco closed down a group dedicated to smuggling illegal immigrants into Spain from Morocco.

The operation began just over a year ago, when a boat carrying 40 illegal immigrants capsized off the coast of Cadiz, and 10 people drowned. There is a particularly graphic image of a dead man lying on the beach at Cadiz which we unfortunately can’t reproduce as it’s Reuters Press and they’re a little out of our budget, but which is plastered across some of the national press today. It’s quite a disturbing image and shows police on the beach with the corpses.

Police set about trying to identify the victims, and via DNA testing were finally able to identify all the victims, a trail which lead them to Morocco and the hunt began for the people organizing this human trafficking.

Following a year of investigations, teams in both Morocco and Spain swooped at the same time , arresting the group who sold the “places” on a series of boats, operated the ferry service to Spain, and helped the new immigrants to melt invisibly into Spain.

Arrests were made in Cadiz, Murcia and Seville.

The Murcian end of the operation involved the operation of transit centres, in which the newly arrived immigrants would be held for a few days, whilst paperwork and identities could be prepared to send them on their way. Murcian police found 3 illegal immigrants in 2 different transit flats when they arrested the two murcians involved in this part of the operation.

Each of the immigrants had paid the equivalent of 1500 euros to make the journey.

 

Nobody knows how many immigrants actually manage to get across without being detected, or how many never reach these shores. Evidence of failure occasionally appears as it did today off the coast of Alicante when 2 corpses of Moroccan origin were found floating in the water in an advanced stage of decomposition.

The likelihood is that these corpses came from a capsized boat, or were thrown out of a boat at sea. Very often immigrant boats are detected with the occupants in a state of advanced dehydration, as a boat has gone off course or suffered mechanical failure at sea, leaving the boat adrift before it enters Spanish waters.

 

Librilla, men caught stealing copper cable

Thefts of copper cabling are reported almost daily by the police, and today was no exception. Police in Librilla actually caught two men stealing cable from industrial units on an Industrial Poligono in Librilla.

Their car was full of cable which had been cut from various installations, around 200 metres of thick cable, with an estimated replacement value of 30,000 euros.

 

 

Finally, Cala Reona, off the Cartagena Coast

A 48 year old  irish diver had to be rescued today after he fractured his leg in an accident and remained trapped between the rocks

His diving buddy alerted emergency services and they affected a rescue before transferring him to the Rosell Hospital.

 

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